In the Middle of the Begining
"Jamie, you don't have diabetes now but you will."
Now, two years after my wonderful holistic wellness MD gave me the worst and best news of my life. I am 40 lbs. lighter, blood pressure and sugar near normal. How?

Nutrition, I found an amazing science based nutritional system that totaly changed my life. I haven't had a sick day off from work in over two years. For me that is a record that I never got close to in my first 50 years. I sleep better and have an awesome energy level to continue with an excercise program that fits my life.

Exercise, from my research I found that Dr. Bob Arnot considers inline speed skating as the best combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise besides it is fun. I dug out the vintage '89 blades laced them up and started skating in left hand turns on a mile and a half oval doing the one thing that I have loved since childhood but forgot about for the last ten years.

I have worked through several weight resistance options and have boiled them down to a number of movements that I do several times throughout my day that use my own bodyweight as the resistance. Therefore where ever I am I need no equipment except skates and a helmet which are my constant companions.

Self esteem, wow I used to have a lot. It is amazing how life beats you down because you keep listening to your own negative loop of anger and fear playing back constantly in your mind moment by day by year. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is not a book that I read once but over and over and over. The same for the tapes by Dr.Denis Waitley The Power of Resilience, Empires of the Mind, and The Psychology of Winning in my car, at home, while skating, daily work instilling their wisdom.

This is only the middle of the begining because there is much more work to do 30 + pounds to loose and miles to skate. Looking back to my best moment of 2004 after months of training 12 hours of skate technique classes from wonderful teachers. I skated 26.2 miles finishing in the Saint Paul Inline Marathon. After 2 hours and 42 minutes of skating I slumped to the curb and cried and cried it was the happiest moment of my life.





- posted by Jamie Cowen @ 6:55 PM